


Untamed Winds

by MirrorDragon



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: And theyre all there to make god tamer's life a nightmare!!, Gen, Ive got a start and an end and some bits in the middle and then Who Knows! Not me thats for sure!!, Road Trip, Theres gonna be monster fights and new gods and a lot of snow, Theres like 2 chapters in Hallownest and then its all original world building and new characters, action adventure, slow af slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-04-21 01:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22025605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirrorDragon/pseuds/MirrorDragon
Summary: With her beast dead and her mind finally clear enough to see the rotting state of Hallownest, God Tamer decides to get as far away from the dying kingdom as she possibly can. Besides, she needs a new God to tame.
Relationships: God Tamer & Tiso (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 52





	Untamed Winds

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god are you excited?? I'm excited! I've been planning this for a year and I'm just so so hyped to share this with everyone! This is my new year's resolution, to finish this story. And its going to be a cracker I can assure you.

Everything seemed a lot darker now.

Much clearer, sure, but so much darker. Her eyes were still adjusting to it, even after a day had passed. Shapes and edges emerged from the dark as she stared blankly into the open cavern.

God Tamer blinked, slowly, eyes stinging. White ash blurred like static as it tumbled through the wind, lagging and merging into unrecognisable fuzz. It would take a while before her vision fully recovered, she could tell.

Although the brightness was beginning to abate, slowly, but noticeably, it still lingered at the edges. Orange light pulsed with the rhythm of her heartbeat, blotches in her peripheral, as if she’d gazed at the sun too long.

That was probably not healthy, she concluded. But at least she was alive.

Her head pounded, crushing around her like a vice to the point of making her jaw cramp, and the rest of her was no better. Shifting even the slightest brought about another wave of pain, another wave of nausea, and she took a deep, tense breath to hold back from retching.

At least her legs didn’t hurt. She wriggled her toes to regain the feeling in them, numb from dangling off the cold, jagged ledge.

Ah nope, they also hurt. Damn.

Something spat in her direction, missing her by inches, before hissing and flittering off somewhere else, likely to find smaller prey. God Tamer coughed, looking back at where the liquid was corroding the wall.

The Kingdoms Edge hardly allowed for a quiet respite. Even now, as the ash danced through the air like snow, and the ivory roots of the old queen broke through the grey stone, creeping into the open, the chitters and chirps of feral bugs surrounded her, shielded as she was in her little hideaway.

Her shoulders slumped, face scrunching in a grimace as she looked up. Above, the Colosseum loomed, its bone-white jaws protruding out to the cliff edge, its presence refusing to be ignored.

A body fell from another entrance, tossed by one leg out of the discard tunnel. It thumped against her platform for a brief second, flakes of dull green chitin scuffing on the rock and haemolymph flicking across her armour, before continuing on its decent downwards. God Tamer didn’t have the energy to watch it fall.

Another followed, this one screaming. The wet crunch seconds later was akin to breaking eggshell.

She took a long, deep sigh, eyes closing as the air filled her lungs.

Fresh. Cold. Tasteless. It felt good.

Stalactites, she noticed. Hanging above her. And ghostly white leaved ferns sprouted from the cracks, dry and dusted with powder.

How long had she not noticed… anything… around her? She hardly recognised most of the scars painting her shell. Though she certainly felt a few of them, still open and weeping.

The fluid had an amber ting to it, and it didn’t smell like it should come from something alive. The connotations of _that_ had encouraged her to leave it well alone, despite the itch, despite the urge to dig deeper and bleed it all out of her.

There wouldn’t be anything left if she tried.

She sighed even heavier, and something wretched caught in her airway, the taste of _far too sweet_ flooding her mouth. It cut of her breath with a stuttered gagging sound. Coughs began to wrack her again, seizing her body with convulsions until she doubled over, vision swimming. Bits of orange still stubbornly clung to her throat even now, scorching like fire, specks and clumps splattering to the ground as she dry heaved, hacking up cysts. The burn in her lungs forced her to gasp for air.

Once it passed, leaving her choking and trembling, clawing at the dirt as the spots in her vision slowly dimmed, she collapsed unceremoniously back onto the ground, antennae dropping flat against the cold stone.

At least she hadn’t thrown up this time, the globules were like acid in her mouth.

The ceiling looked yellow again, she thought bitterly, and let her eyes drift closed.

Sounds were louder now too, despite the ringing in her ears. Muffled, as if underwater, but she could actually hear the commotion overhead. The distant roar and clashing metal sprung through the air until it drowned out nearly everything else.

Nail strikes were like needles, and she could almost feel in her chest the dull thump of bodies falling to the mud. The cheering was a constant music, rising and falling in surges to the percussion of the fight.

Someone wailed, severed off midway. An eruption of laughter.

God Tamer forced herself to focus on that, on the sounds, the sickness in her stomach, the pain in her throat. Focus on that, focus on the physical. Her surroundings. The feel of the dirt. The cold against her searing hot shell. Drown out the absolute sorrow that threatened to consume her.

The scenery spun as her breath came in uneven gasps.

Focus on now. Focus on now.

The last moments of her beast were blurred, a fading dream, and despite her best efforts to keep them in her mind, treasure them, the harder she thought the more they slipped away. Replaced with piercing heat and light and fury, fleeting images and orange.

Her best friend had been reduced to a vague sense of illness. The time they’d spent here, together, clouded as fog.

The only moment she could clearly recall was jerking awake, heart in her throat, blood freezing in her veins with absolute _terror_. Bursting from ice-cold water after a century of drowning, gulping in clean air after an eternity of smoke, blinking and looking down upon shattered mask shards, as she cradled them in her hands. They were so familiar and worn, like a well-loved heirloom. She could trace every line and crack. She knew the stories each one told.

Pus oozed from the underside like glue, thick strings dripping through her fingers, and she had tried to gather the pieces, place them together, fix _her _back together, and she had sobbed. Sobbed without restraint to the jeering of an unfamiliar crowd.

They had dragged her out by her neck, claws digging in hard enough to bleed, and she didn’t even try to fight it. Limbs shaking too hard to make the effort.

This was all her fault. She should have left sooner. Why didn’t she listen to the warning signs, why was she so damn stubborn?

The kingdom was disintegrating before her eyes, and she had nearly crumbled with it, too in a trance to even notice.

_Shut up_, God Tamer told herself. Her neck stung as she whipped her head from side to side, fighting off the heavy tiredness that nagged at her mind.

Just shut up, stop feeling. Thinking like that is foolish. There’s no use in feeling, it doesn’t get anything done. She was never one to get caught up in that kind of impractical nonsense.

Make a plan. Step by step, what was she going to do now? Go through her options, fine-tune it, execute with knife sharp precision. Feel later.

Her breaths started to even out, slowly, heart rate calming. The welling pressure behind her eyes slowly faded back into a headache.

The ceiling was grey again.

So what now?

Realistically, there were a few options to pick from. Not many, and not especially sensible, but it was always best to be thorough.

First off, she could stay here. Try to regain her title, rule over the fools as a blood-soaked champion.

It would be a challenge, that’s for sure; her mind was still sluggish, clogged up like syrup, and without her God…

Still, when had she ever quailed from a challenge?

Maybe she’d even enjoy it. This time, when she sliced through cannon fodder, the victory would be her own. She could entertain the crowds as long as she wanted, while dead-eyed husks stumbled into the path of her greatnail.

Until the light seeped back again.

It would, eventually. It was difficult to say when. Perhaps in a week, perhaps tomorrow? Would she complete all three trials before it claimed her?

She was weak, barely recovering, it would be all too easy to break again. And when it did, she could not rely on her instincts to keep her alive. Luck was not something to be relied upon, and God Tamer knew hers had already run dry.

Would it be quick? Would she notice? Cut down while she swayed, murmuring words not her own. Maybe she would grow some of those bubbling cysts, maybe she would explode on impact. What kind of creature would she become?

_What kind of creature could she have become?_

Anyway...

That was a horrible decision. Another one then.

Easy. She could leave.

Smart, sensible. Obviously the better choice. Needed some further planning, but time wasn’t here friend here. Step two would have to come later.

Technically, this was considered running away, but God Tamer was smart enough to pick her fights. Gods were her obsession, her passion, she knew and understood them, the way they thought, the decisions they’d make.

This God? Well this was one fight she would happily sprint from. All things considered, she’d rather have her life than her pride.

Prey does not drag itself back into the jaws of its predator, screaming _“Come on then! Is that all you’ve got? I can take it!”_

She had absolutely no desire to be lost in dreams again.

Besides, what more could she lose?

On that thought, God Tamer hauled herself up, joints aching and stiff, gut twisting, and began the slow climb back to the Colosseum. Dragging the handle of her greatnail behind her as she yanked it from the soil.

Fools scowled as she passed, the polite ones pretending she didn’t exist. They murmured in a fake kind of hush, whispered tones, but loud enough to be heard across the room. At least, it would have been, if her ears weren’t still whistling.

If they were goading for a response, they would be sorely disappointed.

Her thoughts were her own now, and they didn’t deserve a single one.

The dizziness increased with every step she took, room spinning and stomach churning. So much so, that when one daring bug stepped in front of her at the trial boards, chest puffed out and jaw set tight, she nearly collided into them. Her head snapped forwards, shoulders tensing. If she threw up over their shiny plating, she would feel no pity.

“You’ve got some nerve God Tamer.” The idiot bit out. “You know a fallen fool has no right to leave. You should know that better than anyone.”

She blinked, antennae flicking in agitation. The background chatter dropped to a nervous silence, and she felt their eyes upon her now. Curious heads nosing from around the corners, waiting for some entertainment.

He continued, drawing her attention back. “Now turn back and face your fate, before I cut you down myself.”

The way he spoke… Awfully confident for such a little beetle.

“I’m sorry. Do I know you?”

That seemed to jar him. Physically taken aback, he flinched, the strange wieldable shell at his arm lowering as he slumped. Only for a second, before he collected himself back again and stood even taller. Which was not very far all things considered.

“Tiso. We’ve spoken–” He paused, looking expectant. “–many times before.”

Even if her face was visible through the holes in her helmet, her expression would have given him nothing. The shear amount of disinterest she felt was clear throughout the cavern however, she could see it in the way he shuffled, in the way the other fools held still.

If it was possible to make the atmosphere any more uncomfortable, she wanted to see it happen. Just to spite him.

Her eyes flicked up and down briefly. The shine of glossy chitin was enough of a clue to his arrogance. Either this pitiful little bug had never seen a fight in his life, or he spent each and every morning polishing his shell plates until they gleamed.

She wanted to leave a scuff that would never come out.

Somehow undeterred, he kept speaking, and God Tamer had the impression he wouldn’t stop until someone killed him. “You should have been thrown from the cliff along with the rest of the failures. I’d happily do it myself, if I didn’t want to personally cut your head off. I spoke to the Fool Sentries. Tomorrow morning, we fight, one on one. I’ll cleave you in two with my shield, everyone will watch, and I’ll be crowned a better champion than you ever could be! Without your beast, you’re useless.”

Her face creased up in a grimace, teeth bared in disdain. The shear arrogance of this bastard. “Look, uhh… Tessot?”

Oh damn it, she couldn’t be bothered with this. Let him die by his own hand, he seemed stupid enough, it was sure to happen sooner or later. Her head dropped with a tired groan, languidly brushing him to the side with the back of one hand. “Whatever. I don’t care.” She said, stepping past.

The surprise was clearly enough to kill his train of thought in a blaze of fire, because he barely managed to react, entire body radiating with _I wasn’t prepared for this. _Eyes wide and mouth hung open only to let out an _“Uhhh-”_ sound. Allowing himself to be moved one step back, he gawped at her retreating figure, blinking like an idiot before eventually finding the words to splutter, “Y-you can’t just leave! There are rules!”

“He’s right God Tamer.”

_Oh for the love of–_

She looked up, and if her gaze had tangible energy behind it, the bug in question would have burst into flames. An even smaller idiot dangled from the ceiling, –About the size of her head. She could wrap her entire fist around its face, and crush. If she wanted to. And at this point, she really did kind of want to– wrapped up in rusted, heavy chains, tight enough to leave lasting indentations in its carapace. Who _were_ all these tiny insects, presuming they had control over her?

The chains rattled, and the pipsqueak’s voice caught the attention of even more fools. Heads started to poke from the warrior’s pit like worms after rain, peering around the other bugs. The stupid one was still flapping his mouth like he’d swallowed a ghost pepper.

“You survived your fight, but even a champion like you cannot escape our law. If you manage to live tomorrow, I’m afraid you’ll still be sent to die in the bloodbath.”

The word _Bloodbath_ was spoken with great emphasis, such weight behind it, and God Tamer could hear a rustle of sounds from the fools behind her. Hands folding at his chest, –or as close as was possible, given he was strung up like a prize roast– the little bug gave her a look of sympathy, nodding solemnly like she was supposed to care about anything he just said.

She stared. The bug stared. The fools stared.

“The what?” She said, deadpan.

He stuttered. “T-the bloodbath. Where… you fight through hundreds of fools… unarmed? You’ve… tossed bugs in there yourself I’ve heard.”

“Oh.” She replied. The room was silent, waiting on bated breath. She chose her words and voiced them slowly, clearly, pointed like a dagger. “And who is going to make me?”

“Why, Lord Fool of course!” The bug had the audacity to look condescending.

These creatures were deluded. Why was she entertaining them? She was far too tired for any of this, and really, really wanted a hot drink. Something black and bitter. The air was thick with grease and sweat and haemolymph, iron tasting on her tongue. It was disgusting.

“Right.” She gave the other fools a glancing look back, before tilting her antennae away and marching out of the Colosseum jaws, their shadows looming like humongous, monstrous teeth. “Go fetch him then.”

A chorus of murmurs rose again, she could distinctly hear the annoying one’s voice, far louder than the rest, far more grating. It genuinely hurt her ears. Metal clinked and scratched as the little fool called out to her, but no footsteps. No one had the bravery to actually collect her back.

They faded out. Breathing didn’t make her want to gag anymore, and it got colder. Tiktiks and other small insects skittered out from under rocks, and her feet carried her numbly forwards through the tunnels, still half blind, but too exhausted to care. Aching too much to notice any real pain.

A sign pointed downwards; _City Of Tears_. It was a good a start as any, especially seeing as the other sign had been used as target practice until it was illegible. Cities tended to have clearer signs and pathways, ones that would lead her to the surface.

A lit-up entrance in the walls of the elevator shaft billowed steam, luring her with the promise of hot water.

God Tamer hoped the fools didn’t gather their courage anytime soon. If she had to step foot back in that repulsive place, she was going to stab herself.


End file.
